


Five Nights at Shinra Containment Protocol

by Asylos



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Five Nights at Freddy's, SCP - Fandom
Genre: crossover AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-27 21:39:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14434635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asylos/pseuds/Asylos
Summary: Shinra dug through their infantry rosters to find someone who hadn’t heard enough of the gossip about the science department to turn down this night security job.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tags to update as we go.

Night 1

“It’s basically free money. They pay you to sit there and keep watch but everything is locked up anyway,” the Shinra recruiter had said. 

Cloud eyed the bank of monitors. /If it’s really such an awesome job, why are they going through so many infantry to fill it? / he wondered. /I mean everyone else must have turned them down for this to get to me./ The first night was pretty boring though. Maybe there wasn’t really anything to it. 

Night 2

“Hey there Spike.”

Cloud nearly fell out of his chair at the sound, the only thing holding him upright a hand that was ruffling through his hair. He managed to knock it loose and spin the chair around. “Who the hell are you?”

The dark haired man chuckled, “Name’s Zack.” He grabbed a folding chair from against the wall and set it up beside Cloud’s chair. “So you’re the new guy?”

Cloud nodded, “Started yesterday.”

Zack nodded and gestured to the monitors, “Seen anything interesting?”

“Pretty quiet so far.”

“Are you sure? Didn’t miss anything?”

Cloud frowned, examining the screens. “I don’t think so? I mean, I thought I saw something a little while ago but it was just a trick of the light.” He glanced nervously at Zack. “Did you see something I missed? Please don’t write me up, I could really use the money from this job...”

Zack threw an arm around Cloud’s shoulders, “Nah, you’re fine. Don’t worry. Besides, it’s only your second night.” He pulled Cloud against him and ruffled his spikes some more. “And you’re cute as a baby chocobo. How could I bear to get you in trouble?”

Cloud laughed and pulled away, trying to fix his unruly hair. “Okay okay, enough with the touching. I’m pretty sure there’s rules against that.”

“Sure, doesn’t mean I have to follow them. I ignore plenty of rules. Heck, I shouldn’t even be in here.”

“You shouldn’t?”

Zack grinned and pressed a finger to his lips. “Shh. Don’t tell on me and I won’t tell on you.” 

Cloud paled as the other man faded out of sight. He turned quickly to the monitors, just in time to see a door closing. /Shit./


	2. Chapter 2

Night 3

Cloud sipped his heavily caffeinated beverage slowly as he scanned the monitors. He glanced back at the office door for the fourth time to make sure he had locked it, then back to the screens. 

He paused a few seconds extra on the monitor with the yellow sticky note stuck to its border. It just had a roughly drawn star on it. He had no idea why it was there. Presumably the day shift guard felt that screen needed some extra attention today. (Presumably there was a day time guard. Cloud had never seen him. The office was always empty and dark when he arrived.) He wondered if the star was related to the dark smear on the floor outside the door displayed on the screen. 

Cloud flinched when he heard the doorknob wiggling. He wiped his hand against his pants to clean off the spilled drink. He focused on the monitor that showed the other side of the door, squinting at the grainy texture. Of course they put the shittiest camera there. He was pretty sure it was Zack. 

The jingling stopped and knocking began instead. “Aww, come on Spike. You’re not mad at me are you? Look, I had nothing to do with the mess earlier.”

Cloud glanced back at the starred monitor. Was that the mess he was talking about? He said nothing. A movement on the screen for outside the office door drew his attention back. Zack was holding something up to the camera, but he couldn’t make out what it was. The man seemed to realize it wasn’t working and with a snap of his fingers he sprinted off. Cloud followed him on the monitors best he could. The number of blind spots was concerning. 

Zack stepped into a room that wasn’t covered by the cameras and reappeared dragging a chair. He stood on it and held the paper up to the camera. /Come on, Spike./ He turned the page over and held it up again. /Let me in? :) /

Cloud shook his head and sat back down, having stood for a closer look at the screen. “Yeah no.”

He jumped back out of his seat as a knock came from the door. Zack was clearly still on the chair in the hall. It wasn’t him. 

“Who-“ he squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Who’s there?” 

“Cloud, open the door so we can talk like normal people.”

The visitor knew his name. Surely that meant he was part of the staff. He slowly covered the few steps to the door and unlocked it, immediately stepping back to be out of the path as it swung open. A tall man stepped in and closed the door behind him. Cloud held his breath as the newcomer turned to face him. He almost looked like a bigger version of Zack. A quick glance at the monitor showed him Zack was still in the hall, stepping down from the chair with a dejected look, his shoulders slumped and familiar smile gone. When Cloud looked back he saw the man was watching Zack too.

“Zack’s not bad, just a little excitable.”

“He shouldn’t be out. Everything is supposed to be locked,” Cloud said warily, watching for a reaction. He followed the man’s gaze as it shifted to the employee pass clipped to his shirt pocket. He cursed mentally when he realized it had his name on it. Zack would have known it. 

The man nodded. “True. He’s just lonely. He heard there was someone new around his age starting and wanted to say hi. He’s harmless.”

“Nothing in here is harmless. Why else would you need guards? I think you should go. Please.”

The man raised his hands and stepped back to the door, letting himself out. Cloud quickly closed and locked the door, leaning against it. He could hear voices on the other side. 

“What did he say, Angeal?”

“Sorry Zack, he doesn’t want to play. Just leave him alone, okay? He seems like a good kid.”

“But ‘Geal..”

“Enough. Back to bed. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

“Fine..”

Cloud watched the monitor as they walked away. Zack kept looking back at the door. When both were safely back in their rooms, Cloud let out the breath he’d been holding and went back to his chair.


	3. Chapter 3

Night 4

“Tonight,” Cloud said as he locked the door behind him, “this door doesn’t get opened for any reason.” He unpacked his bag, lining up his collection of energy drinks and snacks on the desk. Thankfully there was a bathroom attached to the monitor room. He gave all of the screens a once over to make sure nothing was out of place yet. He frowned at how many of the doors out there were labeled “Keter”. He’d done some research off hours and found out what that meant. 

One of the screens was just a snow storm of static. The starred monitor showed a larger stain on the floor than before. It extended up the wall around the door. He checked the door lock again, then sat down. 

It was then that he noticed the tape recorder on the desk, with the yellow sticky note that read “play me” in sloppy script. 

“Hi there. Sorry I haven’t been there to actually, you know, train you these last few days. When I finally woke up and got back to work they gave me this recorder to leave you an update. One of the SOLDIERs threw a bit of a fit today and well, you’ll probably notice camera three is down. There was a bit of a fire and it fried it. It also caused some damage to the generator so you may lose power during the night. If that happens, you’re going to have to go give it a kick. Literally. We couldn’t get maintenance authorized to come down in time, but a good strong hit seems to get it going again for a few hours.”

Cloud sighed. So much for staying put. 

“So if the lights are out, there is a flashlight in the top drawer of the desk.” Cloud opened the drawer and pulled out the flashlight, slipping it in his shirt pocket. 

“There’s also a gas mask somewhere just in case. I didn’t manage to find it before I left so you may want to do that. Uh, last time it was used was on take your kids to work day so it’s kind of attached to a stuffed bear. It should still work. The eyes of the bear were cut out so you can see through it. Anyway, I think that’s it? Oh yeah, the power going out will unlock all the doors except for the exit and office, since that has a manual lock. Good luck!”

He slid down in his chair, rested his head on the desk, and then banged his head on it. “Who the fuck designed this place,” he groaned. “Alright Cloud, you can do this. Just think of how much money you can send home to ma at the end of the week.” 

Three hours passed without anything happening. The first odd thing was Angeal and Zack entering from one of the exit doors along with a couple of Shinra guards and a scientist. The pair handed what looked like equipment bags to the Shinra grunts, who went through them. The scientist passed a clipboard to Angeal, who looked to be signing it then passed it to Zack who did the same. It then went back to the scientist and the three of them left. 

Zack and Angeal both headed off to their separate rooms. Angeal stopped outside the door on the starred monitor, frowned, and continued on. Zack waved at the camera before going in his door. Cloud found himself almost waving back before he realized how stupid that was. 

A few minutes later there was a high pitched whine, followed by a loud pop, and the lights went out. Cloud pulled out the flashlight and twisted it on. He would have preferred one with a switch in case he needed to turn it off in a hurry but he had what he was left and that was it. 

He pressed his ear to the office door and listened. Quiet. He unlocked the door, wincing at how loud the click sounded as the deadbolt retracted. He waited. Quiet still. He went out into the hall, covering the flashlight with his hand to keep the light low. 

He crept to the power room as quietly as he could manage while wearing his standard issue combat boots. He considered taking them off and carrying them but he felt safer with the layers of rubber between him and anything that might be on the floor. Slowly he opened the door, scanning with the flashlight. He stepped in and closed the door behind him. 

The room stank of oil and gasoline. /Is this just a back up generator?/ he wondered. That would explain why it was expected to go out before the night was through. He stuck the end of the flashlight in between his teeth and bit down to hold it so he could use both his hands. There were convenient instructions taped next to the on button. He ran through the checks and tried turning it on. Nothing. He shrugged and tried kicking it like the recording had said. The impact of his boot on the metal echoed in the room and he barely heard the door open. He turned toward the door and spat the flashlight into his hand so he could aim it better. 

“Don’t point that in my eyes, asshole.”

Cloud flinched and aimed the beam lower. “Sorry...” He couldn’t see the man’s face any more in the dim light but the stands of red hair that fell into the light were not familiar. 

“Apology accepted. Now are you going to fix that? I can’t read in the dark you know.”

Cloud glanced back at the generator. “I’m trying? It doesn’t seem to be cooperating. I did try kicking it.”

“Oh for the Goddess’ sake...” The man grabbed the flashlight and pulled it out of his hand while storming over to the machine. 

Cloud shrugged and stepped off to the side, closer to the door in case he needed to make a break for it. 

The man studied the generator intently then touched his hand to it. Electricity flashed and danced along the metal, and it started up. The flashlight cracked and popped in his other hand. “Heh, sorry about the light.” He walked up to Cloud, slipped the still hot and slightly melted flashlight into Cloud’s shirt pocket, and left. 

Cloud peered out the door and saw the man enter the room from the starred monitor, the door closing just as the overhead lights turned on. He was sure the glow of the man’s eyes would haunt him the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Night 5

“Hey there! You made it to Night five. Good job! I knew you could do it. Just gotta get through tonight and then you’re off for the weekend with a big fat pay cheque. What are you going to spend it on? Nevermind, don’t answer that. Anyway, I noticed you didn’t find the gas mask. I guess you didn’t need it. I dug it out and it’s on the floor under the desk if you do need it. It’s probably best if you use it any time you leave the office. Though hopefully you won’t need to leave.”

Cloud leaned under the desk and pulled out the bear slash gas mask and sat it on the corner of the desk. He shuddered and turned it so the vacant, cut out eyes were facing the wall instead of him. 

“We did get that maintenance guy in but he needed to order some parts. There’s a temporary fix, but you know what to do if the lights go out again. I couldn’t find the flashlight so hopefully you’ve still got it. Try to leave that kind of stuff here for the next guy. It’s just courteous.”

He pulled the slightly melted flashlight from his pocket and dropped it on the desk. He had planned to replace it, but hadn’t woken up early enough to head into town before his shift started. This could be a problem. And yet, maybe if he just ignored it and stayed put that guy would just fix it again? It’s not like anything actually threatening had happened over the week, and the exit stayed sealed so nothing was leaving. He could just stay in the locked office. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan. 

“Oh, right. You will definitely want the gas mask in the power room. I almost forgot about that. There was a bit of a leak earlier. Which also means you’re going to want to fix things straight away so you don’t end up with a big explosion on your hands. I know, it’s just one thing after another in this place. Maybe after you finish those courses you told me about you can hire on as full time maintenance. Gaia knows we need someone. Anyway, things should be typical for a Friday. You’ll probably see more restless wandering but it shouldn’t be too bad if you keep your distance. Hopefully see you back next week but I understand if it didn’t end up being what you were looking for.”

Cloud put his elbows on the desk and rested his head in his hands. He pressed his palms against his eyes to push back the headache trying to form behind them.

With a sigh he sat up and started checking the cameras. Things were fairly quiet. He saw Zack wave at the camera as he passed between his own room and Angeal’s, and that was it for the first few hours. 

He saw a man in a lab coat enter with some guards. They moved to the starred monitor’s door, knocked, and then left with the red headed man following them. They went out the exit, and out of Cloud’s surveillance area. /One less thing to worry about/, he thought. 

With only a couple hours left in his shift, he started to think it was actually going to be a peaceful night. Some movement at the exit door caught his attention as a team returned with a cloaked figure he didn’t recognize. The lights chose then to flicker out, followed by all of the screens as the power went out. 

“Shit.” He picked up the broken flashlight and tried it anyway. Strangely enough, there was a faint light from it. It wasn’t going to be much help in the halls, but might be enough to find the switch on the generator. He tucked the bear head under his arm and felt his way to the door. He kept his hand on the wall he knew would lead to the power room. Once he felt the door beneath his finger tips he put the bear mask on. 

It smelled like... well, he decided to leave it at that. It just smelled. He didn’t want to follow the thought through to decide what it smelled like. He turned on the flashlight and squinted through the eye holes to try to see what he was doing. He managed to find the button and pressed it. He could feel the machine starting to shake as it powered up, but he couldn’t hear anything through the foam padding of the head. He jumped when something touched his shoulder, spinning around with the dying flashlight in front of him. 

The figure before him looked familiar but the dim light and narrow view was making it difficult to see. He could see his lips moving but he couldn’t hear anything. “Sorry,” he said, instantly regretting opening his mouth as he could now taste what the mask smelled like. He pulled the mask off, tucking it under his arm again and blinking as the lights came back on. Now he could see clearly. “General Sephiroth? Gaia, is it really you? You’re the reason I joined up with Shinra. But, why are you down here?”

Sephiroth reached out and pressed his hand against Cloud’s cheek. He had a few seconds to be confused by the action before his vision went green and he dropped the mask and flashlight to the floor. 

Night 8

Cloud blinked his eyes open, and found he was staring down at his hands. They were covered with something red and sticky, though further up his arms it seemed to have dried to more of a brownish red. He looked past his fingers to the grass he could see between his feet. There was a pool of the red there too, spreading out like it had been steadily dripping. His head hurt, and he strongly considered just closing his eyes again. 

“Oh good, it worked.”

Cloud recognized the voice. Zack. 

“Seph wasn’t sure it would. He’s never tried to stop being a controlling asshole.”

“Zack, that’s not very nice.” That one was Angeal. 

“Yeah well, it’s not very nice of him to hog everything.”

Cloud groaned and slowly lifted his head, trying to focus his eyes on the wall. It was covered in grass too. That was odd. “I think I’m gonna be sick..” he said quietly. He was pulled back against someone he hadn’t even realized was behind him. He started to protest but they placed their hands on the sides of his head and everything felt better. He sighed softly and relaxed against the person. He may have dozed off for a few minutes. He wasn’t sure. He tried the eye opening thing again. 

Zack was sitting on a chair in front of him, looking concerned. “Hey Spike, how are you doing?”

“I think I should go home, take the rest of the night off sick.”

Zack frowned, “I’m sorry, but you can’t go.”

Cloud felt the panic rising in his stomach. He tried to stand up but found he was being tightly held. He felt a calming presence pressing on his mind and pushed it away. 

“Spike, even if Seph could put you back the way you were, they’re not going to let you leave the labs.”

“Especially not after all the people you killed.” 

Cloud turned to look at the red headed man. “What?”

“That was uncalled for, Genesis,” Angeal said from somewhere behind them. 

Zack grabbed his hands and he turned back to him. “That wasn’t your fault.”

“But it’s true. You think they really care who was in control? You’re contaminated goods, little trooper. They’ve even given you a number.” Genesis pointed at Cloud. 

Cloud looked down and saw the sticker stuck to the shirt that was definitely not what he had been wearing when he got to work. It was one of those cheap ‘Hello, my name is’ stickers and it had 3277-1C written in the blank space with black marker. “But.. what about Ma? She’s relying on this pay to fix the roof...”

“I’m sure she’s already been told you’re dead by now.”

“Genesis!” Zack and Angeal said in unison. 

“No, he’s right,” Sephiroth said. “It would count as killed in the line of duty and Genesis made sure families get a big payout for that after the first time.” He rested his chin on Cloud’s head. “Your Ma will be fine.”

“Anyway,” Zack said, “the important thing here is that Angeal convinced Seph he doesn’t need a puppet every hour of the day and now you can come play chocobo racing with me.” He grabbed Cloud’s hands and pulled him to his feet. Then he rubbed the sticky residue off on his pants. “Maybe after a shower first. Don’t want to get all that blood on the controller.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go. The end of a week of having Tryhardninja’s Five Nights at Freddy’s Songs 2 album on repeat and too much Markiplier and SCP reading. 
> 
> Note: SCP 3277 is empty at the time of writing this and this is not a claim on that number. I just needed a number and liked that one. (3277 is Jenova. Seph is 3277-1.)


End file.
